In Reason: Copyright Should Last Half A Century I mentioned libertarian writer Cathy Young’s advocacy of a 50-year copyright term in discussing the looming book-banning of a Catcher in the Rye sequel based on copyright [see her article: Intellectual Property vs. Creative Freedom: Can J.D. Salinger stop a Catcher in the Rye sequel?, Reason.com, 6.25.2009] . Well, the judge has made her decision and banned the book. Yep. Here, in America, land of the free, home of the brave, we are literally banning books–and what’s worse, this is due to a law that many libertarians support.
Congratulations, Ms. Young, and other pro-IP libertarians. Shame, shame.
Question: if being pro-war is not enough to revoke your libertarian credentials–how about book-banning?
Update: On Masnick’s blog, someone recommended Eugene Volokh and Mark Lemley’s “Freedom of Speech and Injunctions in Intellectual Property Cases” (which I have not yet read).
[LRC cross-post]
Update: see here, about how copyright law has caused the banning or censorship of various biographies of Salinger.
